


Flutter

by Skippyin, TFLatte



Series: Tales of the Stateran Forest (Monster AU) [3]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Family Fluff, Gen, sibling relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-15 05:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13606179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skippyin/pseuds/Skippyin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFLatte/pseuds/TFLatte
Summary: Taako makes a change to Angus, and the twins take the opportunity.





	Flutter

**Author's Note:**

> For once, a Stateran fic that has absolutely 0 angst! I promise, all fluff here. Enjoy.

Angus liked flying with Lup, he really did - loved it, actually, even if she had a habit of dangling him in midair, which always made him feel like he was about to fall - but the actual takeoff and landing were always really nerve-wracking.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you ma’am, it’s just very scary because I can’t do anything about anything, you know?” Angus leaned against Lup’s side, bundled into a blanket that wasn’t necessary at all with Lup in the nest with him throwing off heat, but he liked the cozy feeling.

“You can’t do anything about anything when we’re _in_ the air either, kidlet.” Lup’s wing draped over him, blocking most of the light and keeping most of the warmth in. It was still chilly for early spring.

“Well, yes, but then nothing’s _changing._ Also, that’s the point where if I fall I probably won’t land before you can catch me.” Angus sighed. “At least all the way up there’s a _lot_ of time to cast Feather Fall.”

Lup looked thoughtful for a second. “You know, I bet Taako could fix that.”

“I _like_ knowing I have a lot of time to cast Feather Fall, ma'am.”

“Not _that_. Come on, little man, let’s go hassle my brother.” Lup scooped Angus up, using her wing like a spatula to toss him up and catch him as the blanket unraveled. Angus sat up in her hands as she strolled out of the house and cheerfully invaded Taako’s.

Taako responded by burrowing under his blankets and groaning obnoxiously. “What do you want?”

“Give Angus wings.”

Taako sat up at that. “What?”

Angus looked up at Lup, wide-eyed. “Can he really do that, ma’am?”

Taako puffed up immediately. “Of _course_ I can, Agnes, you think I can’t do a little thing like _wings?”_ Angus gave Taako a contrite look, but from the way he squinted in response Angus wasn’t sure he’d quite concealed the grin that threatened to break out. Taako was predictable sometimes.

Lup waved her hand, waving Angus with it. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of this before. I’m going to teach him to fly for real.”

Taako circled in a way that reminded Angus of sharks - he was nothing if not showy. Then he took Angus out of Lup’s hand and held him up with a critical eye. Angus waited patiently as Taako turned him this way and that. Then his tail came up, wrapping around Angus and freeing up his hands to stroke his chin thoughtfully. Angus leaned over to the side and caught Lup’s eye, and she shot him a grin as he rolled his eyes and smiled.

“Come back tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, sir?” Angus frowned. He’d been getting excited about this!

“I have to get my beauty rest in, Agnes, obviously.” Taako patted Angus’ head. “Since _some people_ are fucking barbarians who barge in on other people who are innocently trying to sleep.”

“It’s four in the afternoon and you’ve never done anything innocent in your life.”

“I don’t _have_ to give Angus wings, you know.”

“Yeah, but then you’ll make _him_ sad. Look at that face.”

Angus obligingly looked up at Taako with the most sorrowful look he could muster. Taako glared at him and Angus’s lip wobbled.

“...fuck both of you, _fine_ , I’ll do it,” Taako groaned, and Angus hugged his tail until Taako lifted him up to his shoulder, where he was happy to instead switch to hugging him properly.

* * *

Angus was snuggled down into his little nest, still fast asleep and cocooned in blankets, when Lup picked him up. The slight jostling woke him up, and he scrubbed at his eyes as he sat up.

“Good morning, Lup. Why are we awake?”

“We’re going to go wake up Taako.”

“Why are we waking up Taako?”

“To give you wings, duh.”

“Oh, right.” Angus yawned. “Can I get dressed first?” His stomach chose that moment to growl, and he paused and looked up at Lup with a smothered giggle.

She winked. “I’ll get you some breakfast while you’re getting dressed.” Setting him down gently, she went to the kitchen, feet hardly seeming to touch the floor, and Angus wondered if that was a wing thing or a Barry’s-still-sleeping thing or both. He dug through his clothes till he found his favorite blue suit and hat, and by the time he’d finished getting his hair in order Lup was plating a full-sized breakfast for herself and an Angus-sized breakfast for him. He cast Levitate and floated himself up to the tabletop to eat, almost too excited to sit still.

As soon as they were done, Lup dropped the dishes into the sink with surprising quiet and picked Angus up. She paused in the walk to the door to bend down and kiss Barry’s forehead as he slept. Angus made an exaggerated face at her and stage-whispered “ _gross_ ” and she snorted, stealing his hat and dangling it just out of reach as he tried to grab it back. She only gave it back once they were outside.

Angus leaned contentedly against Lup, tugging the hat back down onto his head, and braced himself. She strode up to Taako’s door and gestured, and it slammed open with a resounding _BOOM_. A trio of pink darts shot past Lup’s head and impacted with some tree branches.

“Rise and shine, Taako,” Lup singsonged as she sauntered into the house, navigating Taako’s hoard with ease. The only response was the small motion of Taako pulling his wand back under the covers. Lup put Angus down on the nightstand, and he leaned against his treasure chest and watched her grab the blankets with both hands, put her foot against the bed frame, and _heave_. Taako squawked outrage as he tipped onto the floor and scrambled upright, tail whipping out, and Lup narrowly dodged having her feet swept out from under her. Instead she grabbed Taako in a headlock and they wrestled briefly. Angus watched patiently until they separated, glaring, and then abruptly turned to him as if nothing had happened.

“So, wings, huh?” Taako picked him up and held him at eye level. Angus smiled back at him and Taako blinked slowly - thinking, Angus supposed.

“That’s the plan. And _real_ wings, too, none of that gliding shit.” Lup hung over Taako’s shoulders, grinning back at Angus. He giggled and nodded.

“Flying under my own power does sound a lot more fun!” he agreed. “I’m very excited, sir. I can’t wait to see what you do!”

“Well, ‘bout to disappoint you, bubbeleh, because you won’t see. Sit down. This is gonna feel weird.”

Angus obediently sat and braced himself, squeezing his eyes shut as a tingle of magic washed over him. It passed, and he opened them, twisting around to see - and Taako snickered quietly. Angus gave him a suspicious squint.

“I can’t help but notice a distinct lack of wings, sir.”

“Regular boy genius, aren’t you, little man?”

“What did you do, sir?” Angus looked down at his hands - normal. The rest of him was too, and patting his head produced no weird ears or horns or anything. Then he felt his face and his hands came away muddy. He blinked. Then he glared at Taako.

“What’s the verdict, _detective_?” Taako was smirking.

“The verdict is you’re guilty of improper use of Prestidigitation, sir!” Angus huffed. “And the sentence is clean me up and give me my wings!”

Lup cackled. “Can’t get anything past this kid. Come on, Taako, give the kid his wings already.”

Taako snorted, flicking one finger, and Angus felt the dirt vanish again. Then he strolled out the door. “Come on, let’s get you somewhere you can take off from.” Angus sighed theatrically, drawing another giggle from Lup, and settled down in Taako’s hand to be carried out into the woods. Once they’d gotten clear of the camp, he stopped and Angus sat up again.

“Are we going to do my wings _now_?”

“Hold your horses, pumpkin,” Taako answered absently. “Turn around.” Angus shifted and put his back to the twins. Taako’s fingers brushed against his back and he automatically leaned into them. After a moment, there was the familiar wriggling sensation of his clothes being transformed, and he looked over his shoulder with a reproachful “ _Sir_.”

“Hey! I worked hard on that shirt, I don’t want your wings ruining it!” Taako pointed. “Turn _around_. No peeking.”

Angus nodded and turned back around. It was hard to sit still as he waited, and even harder when he felt magic around him again. Angus squeezed his eyes shut, but as the sensation grew more intense he started to worry. What if it hurt? He didn’t think Taako would do it if it hurt, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt for Taako but it would for Angus-

“You know, this probably isn’t a great idea,” Taako remarked. “I mean, you know how kids are, Lulu. They get all hyped up about something but then like two seconds in they get bored of it and give up on it.”

“I’ve never done that in my _life_!” Angus squawked.

“I dunno about that. Remember when you were trying to learn Scorching Ray?”

“It was too high level for me!”

“That’s no excuse, Agnes.”

Angus spluttered indignantly. Then Lup’s voice distracted him. “Oh my god, _Taako,_ they’re _adorable_! But y’know I’m just saying, _my_ wings would’ve made a way better model.” Angus blinked. It was done?

“Oh yeah? Watch _this_.” Angus was lifted higher and he squeaked as fingers poked at something that his brain said should _not_ exist.

Lup gasped. “ _Perfect_.” Taako gently pinched one of the new wings and wiggled it, and Angus squirmed.

“What are you doing back there?” Neither of them answered, instead giggling delightedly. Angus craned his neck, but Taako’s hand was in the way. Lup leaned over and poked the mysterious wing and Angus felt it twitch. “That feels _weird_ ,” he announced.

“Good weird or bad weird?” She looked over at him.

Angus considered the question. “Good weird, I think,” he said finally. “Can I see now?”

Lup and Taako traded looks, then Taako pulled out a mirror. Angus didn’t question where he’d gotten it from. He just stared.

“...Sir, they’re _beautiful,”_ he breathed. The wings looked like a butterfly’s, broad and shimmering blue, still a little crumpled as if he’d just emerged from a cocoon. Experimentally he tried to move them. They shivered, then twitched slowly, and then began to beat slowly. Immediately, he understood what the twins had been doing. Glitter showered from the wings with every movement. No wonder Lup was grinning like that. “They’re amazing.”

“Of course they are.” Taako buffed his nails on his shirt.

“I know, I know, you made them,” Angus laughed. As he kept trying the wings out moving them got easier and more natural, and Lup reached over and lifted him out of Taako’s hand. Taako casually flicked his handful of glitter over the two of them. Angus sneezed and Lup laughed.

“Oh, this is _great_. Come on, little man, let’s go. Taako, you coming?”

“Nah. I have important naps to take. You two have fun.” Taako waved them off and Lup snorted. Angus waved back, and Lup spread her wings and took off. Angus watched the ground recede below them, trees shrinking to the size of needles, until she finally stopped, wings sweeping in broad circles to keep her aloft.

“Alright, Angus, you ready for this?” She grinned at him.

Angus looked down again and swallowed nervously. “Um, actually, ma’am, do you think we could start - um - somewhere closer to the ground? Like a lot closer? Like maybe just, just _on_ the ground?”

“Nah, takeoffs are harder to learn than real flying.” Lup waved a hand dismissively and Angus instinctively grabbed for the one still holding him.

“ _Ma’am_ ,” he said pleadingly, and she gentled.

“Hey, I got you, pumpkin, you’re not going anywhere. I’ve never let you fall before, have I?”

“...No, I guess not.” This time Angus very deliberately looked up at her and not at the ground far ( _f_ _ar_ ) below. Lup smiled at him encouragingly and held her hand a little further from her chest, making Angus’ wings twitch nervously.

“Remember that.” She shifted her grip to hold him in two hands, his feet dangling. “Just start flapping. You were getting it before, right? Just flap and don’t worry about falling.”

“Easy for you to say,” Angus muttered, but obeyed. Glitter sprinkled down through the air.

“Harder than that, you’ve gotta hold yourself up - there you go, that’s better. You’ve got it, just keep going.” She loosened her grip and he squeaked, clutching at her as panic flared again.

“I don’t wanna fall, I don’t wanna fall-“

“Easy, easy, you’re not gonna fall, I’ve got you.” Angus squeezed his eyes shut and, as a result, didn’t realize anything had changed until Lup gave a delighted _ha_! “Angus, look, you’re doing it!”

He opened his eyes to see Lup holding her hands up in front of her, nowhere near him. Looking back, eyes wide, he saw his wildly-flapping wings, and the ground below him not moving. Then he looked back at Lup, stunned.

“I - I’m _flying_! I’m really _flying_!”

“Hell fucking yeah you are, little man!” Lup’s grin was infectious. “How’s it feel?”

“ _Amazing_!” He paused. “...How do I move?”

Lup laughed and swooped around him. “Figure it out! That’s the fun part!” The breeze made Angus wobble and he whimpered nervously before steadying himself and beginning to relax. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. It took a little while before he got the hang of tilting his weight to stop hovering and move in one direction. Lup hovered below him as he went, calling encouragement the whole time and whooping delightedly when he figured it out. He couldn’t help grinning back at her, excitement flooding him all at once and sweeping away all traces of nerves.

“Come on, think in three dimensions!” Lup folded her wings for a second to drop before spiraling back up, circling around him. Angus nodded and flapped harder, as hard as he could - and started to rise. He nearly bumped into Lup and dropped a few feet, making his stomach swoop distressingly, but he caught himself.

“This is the best!” He beamed at her.

“We’ll get Barry up here with us next time, maybe get Taako to polymorph and come too. Make it a family thing.” Lup winked and Angus, warmth rising in his chest, flew up to throw his arms around her neck.

“Thank you so much! It felt weird at first but it’s so cool is it always like this?”

“Yeah - man, you know, I gotta show you the crater I made first time I landed I was so excited I didn’t even feel it!”

Angus gave Lup a slightly nervous look. “Crater?”

“It’s fine, you won’t leave one, you don’t weigh enough. Come on!” Lup pulled away and flew higher, Angus scrambling to follow her elegant turns and dives, both laughing aloud.

Eventually, Angus began to dip lower in the sky, flapping harder and harder, and Lup dropped beside him to scoop him back into her hands.

“I’m fine, ma’am,” Angus protested, but she shook her head.

“Nah. You’re wiped out and I don’t want Dav lecturing me about responsibility again just because our boy got too tired to keep flapping and fell out of the sky.” Lup winked at him and Angus sighed dramatically - but he _was_ pretty tired. Flying was hard work. Lup carried them both to the ground again and Angus climbed up to sit on her shoulder as they landed, drawing attention from the small group that had clustered around Taako. Davenport looked up and visibly relaxed, anxious shifting slowing to something more reasonable.

“Where have you _been_? Taako wouldn’t tell us, he just kept saying you took Angus for flying lessons-“

“Um,” Angus interrupted before Davenport could work himself up any more, holding up a finger, “he was telling the truth, sir. Look,” and he turned to show everyone his wings.

“See?” Taako was grinning ear to ear.

“ _You_ were pretending you didn’t know humans couldn’t fly. You be quiet.”

“They can! Angus is human, and he can fly, can’t he?”

“You gave him _wings_? How come you never do that for me?” Merle sounded utterly betrayed.

“That’s because I don’t _trust_ you with wings, old man. I remember Year Six.”

“ _One time_ -“

Angus giggled and Lup looked over at him thoughtfully. She leaned over and whispered into his ear, and Angus instantly perked up and nodded. Taking advantage of Davenport and Merle’s distraction, they slipped away into the trees.

It didn’t take long for them to find what they were looking for. Magnus was sprawled out in a patch of sunbeams not far from camp, snoring loudly. Lup and Angus traded grins and Lup crept over and stood over Magnus, holding Angus out. He flapped his wings as hard as he could, glitter drifting down, and Lup waved him gently back and forth until Magnus was completely covered. They looked down at him for a minute. Then Magnus’ nose twitched - once, twice - and he sneezed, sending glitter flying up in a cloud as he blinked awake. Lup let out a cackle and swept Angus up into a tree as Magnus sat up, looking dumbfounded.

“Come on, I bet if we’re fast we can glitterbomb Lucretia’s whole desk before she gets home from patrol.”

Angus giggled. “Yes ma’am!”

* * *

Davenport sighed, pinching the bridge of his smoky nose as he regarded the trio sitting around the table in front of him. Angus smiled a little sheepishly. Taako and Lup smiled not at all sheepishly. Davenport’s jacket sparkled in the light.

“It hasn’t even been three days,” he said slowly, “and you’ve covered _half the camp_ in glitter.”

“Oh, it’s gotta be more than half.”

“It is.” Another sigh. “We can’t keep doing this. It’s not sustainable.”

“But it’s so much _fun_ \- and look at him! He’s adorable! How can you say no to this face!”

“Lup, please.” Davenport frowned at her. “There’s only so much of this we can take. Magnus is _still_ combing out his fur.”

“Uh, have you met Magnus? That’s a _good_ thing.”

“You need to put him back to normal, Taako. Now.”

“Sir!” Angus protested at the same moment as Taako and Lup’s “But!”

He held up his hand. “I’m _not_ banning it permanently - although I might consider it if things get this bad again. You can give Angus wings twice a week-” He paused, looked at them, and amended “Twice a _month_. That’s it. For _one_ day each time. And this counts as one for this month.”

Taako opened his mouth but Angus cut him off. “Thank you, sir. Twice a month is fine.”

Davenport nodded, softening a little. “I’m glad you think so, Angus. It’s just too much as a permanent thing.”

“It’s okay, sir. It’s kind of weird to have wings long-term, honestly.” Angus folded his hands in front of him. “Sleeping on them is hard.”

“Yeah, why do you think I sleep in the nest?” Lup nodded. Taako frowned, opening his mouth, and then jerked a little, turning his head to glare at Lup, who gave him an innocent look.

Davenport cleared his throat pointedly. “Well, if that’s all, we’re done here. You can go. Please put Angus back to normal.”

“You got it, Cap’nport.” Lup gave him a little salute, and Davenport smiled faintly. “Come on, little man.” She flicked her tail, curling it around Angus to tug him away, and he hurried after her as she grabbed Taako and steered him out of the dining room.

Taako turned around as soon as they were outside. “You didn’t even bargain! Have we taught you nothing?”

“You taught me to know when to fold ‘em, sir,” Angus answered, smiling. Taako blinked at him, then snorted.

“Fine, I guess it means I don’t have to keep recasting on you. Save some spell slots.”

Lup slung an arm around Taako’s shoulders and her tail around Angus’. “Come on, boys, let’s go grab Barry. We’ve got some planning to do for next week.”

* * *

Angus was curled up in his hammock, wrapped in blankets, when the door slammed open.

“It’s _WING DAY_!” two voices chorused with unholy glee.

Angus’ eyes opened in time to see Lucretia lift her head, blink sleepily at the twins - Lup wiggled her fingers in a wave - and groan, burying her face back into the pillow and pulling her blanket up over her head. Taako strolled over and scooped Angus out of his hammock, leaving the blankets strewn across the desk. He grinned down at Angus, and Angus yawned and beamed as he felt magic tingling in his back again.

A miniature bubble shield popped into existence around the desk. “Not on my _journals_ ,” Lucretia mumbled into the pillow, letting go of her staff and drawing her arm back under the blanket. Lup snickered and herded Taako and Angus outside.

“Come on, Merle says there’s adventurers that stayed the night, I wanna glitter their horses.” Angus wiggled out of Taako’s grip as his wings opened and he raced after them, hands plastered over his mouth to quiet his delighted laughter and trailing glitter behind him like fairy dust.

**Author's Note:**

> Not pictured: Davenport deciding to just not leave his house today as the faint sound of the twins screaming "WING DAY" reaches his ears.


End file.
